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Conforming Questions
1. Is there any way to drop shots into the timeline based on their source time code? I’m thinking about VFX, stock shots, and other things that are generated with their correct timeline time code (this is often done with VFX made on Smoke, for instance). Right now “insert selected shots” just puts them where the cursor is. I’d like to be able to select a bunch of shots and have them placed automatically based on their time code.
2. Am I overlooking something, or is there no way to cue the timeline cursor by time code? All I can see is the ability to snap to shot transitions, but no way to type in a time code and have it cue to that location (I’d like to have that in the Color page as well….).
3. Is there any way to add a track to an existing timeline and use an EDL to populate it? Once again, I’m thinking about VFX shots, in this case shots that are cut in by editorial already. Right now I don’t see any way to either combine timelines (that would be good as well), or assemble into an existing one other than by hand.
4. Along the same lines, is there any way to copy shots from one timeline into another? In other words, to assemble a bunch of shots in one timeline, then copy one of the tracks and paste it into another timeline.
Right now, the conform tools work quite well if you are able to use a roundtrip workflow with Final Cut 7. However, most television series and studio features are cut on Avid (you can use Automatic Duck to generate Final Cut XMLs from AAF, though, and that works quite well, but still….). Not to mention that Final Cut 7 is EOL (hell, Final Cut as a useful tool for professional work seems EOL at this point), so the current XML roundtrip has a limited lifespan. AAF works well for Avid import once you get around some of the quirks, but in either case, a roundtrip workflow is not always practical, particularly in series television work where the producers expect to be able to see a finished show in the color suite. That means all effects, transforms, and everything short of titles already in place. So short of having transforms implemented automatically in Resolve (I expect that will come, but it’s not there yet), tools to help automate the integration of material not in the original EDL would be very, very useful. To me, that primarily means source clip time code awareness, and the ability to copy tracks into existing timelines, as well as use EDL’s to populate tracks in existing timelines. Right now, the lack of these capabilities is causing a lot of us to conform on other platforms and import the final result into Resolve, using a preconform EDL or shot detection. That can work, but you lose a lot of flexibility, not to mention the ability to do reconforms and color traces when material is recut. So I’d much rather be able to do the base conform within Resolve, but it needs to be a bit more robust for that to happen at a production level for those of us who do not really have the option of a roundtrip workflow.
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5 Replies
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Not so sure about the end of XML. Premiere pro uses XML as well as fcp7, and the beauty of XML is that its an open format. And a lot of places who were on FCP seem to be moving to PP.
I mean hell, EDL’s are still around.
Joseph Mastantuono
Online Editor – Colorist – Post Consultant
Brooklyn based finishing at reasonable prices
917.969.1583 -
XML is a general purpose metadata document, not a video EDL. When I said XML, I specifically referred to a Final Cut XML files, which consists of tags and data structures that are specific to Final Cut, just as Avid’s XML files are specific to Avid, and Premiere Pro’s are specific to Premiere Pro.
For some reason, people seem to think that there is some kind of video list exchange format called XML. That is not the case. XML files are specific to the program that’s generating them, they are not general purpose EDL replacements. So what I said is true in the sense that I was referring to the Final Cut Pro XML document that Resolve and other programs can properly interpret. XML documents are used for many purposes that have nothing to do with video editing because all XML really means is a text document with tags and metadata in a specific format.
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Yes, but not to get in a pedantic battle, Because the FCP XML format has existed for a while, getting XML support for PPro/Avid should be a big hassle, and because of it’s open nature it should be trivial to get a equivalent that easily works, or is easily hacked to work in Resolve etc…
As far as your other questions, If I was faces with those same issues, I would simply do all the adding/subtracting/ replacing of files in FCP7, and export a new XML into Resolve, every time I needed to make a set of changes. Your color corrections are clip based by default so everything should carry over.
Joseph Mastantuono
Online Editor – Colorist – Post Consultant
Brooklyn based finishing at reasonable prices
917.969.1583 -
From your post, my guess is that you’ve never worked on network dramas and/or comedies. The reason your suggestion is not practical is because a) not everything that goes in the show is a Quicktime file, and b) a lot of VFX show up at the last minute. It is impractical and a bit time wasting to do a reconform every time a new group of VFX shots arrive when the show has to be completed, colored, rendered, played out to tape, and delivered that night. Not to mention the simpler fact that Final Cut is not used for many network dramas and comedies. Ours is an Avid dominated world, and even the sight of Final Cut in a room being used for these things might cause some producers to have seizures.
As for the XML issue, I wasn’t being pedantic. The only way a program like Resolve that’s been set up to properly interpret Final Cut XML files could understand other types of XML files would be to rewrite the entire parser to understand different tags and data structures. There is no similarity in terms of database or edit structure between the three systems we’re talking about, and no commonality of terminology. Your concept of “trivial” and that of the programmer who has to write the parser and integrate the information into a form that Resolve can use are probably two different things. As I said before, just because these programs generate XML files doesn’t mean there’s any commonality between those files other than the fact that they’re written as XML. If you write two different programs in C++, they don’t do the same things even though they’re written in the same language. Same thing here. If you don’t believe that, generate an XML file from Avid or Premiere Pro, and generate one from Final Cut. Compare them and you’ll see what I mean.
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Hi ,
1. You have an “change source timecode in header ” option when you right click on the shots in your browser . You can change the time code of the particular clip according to your source edl. Add the shots into your media pool. Now , if you go to the timeline , you will find all the shots exactly on the place where you want the shots to be. I hope that solves the first question .
2. This option is available if you have a color panel .
3. There is a kinda work around for this as far as I know and I tried . open the two edl’s in text edit , combine both into one edl by cut paste one after another . Now , when you load this combined edl into resolve you will confront a problem with the timeline timecode. The Serial Numbers will anyways dont follow sequentially . Now you have to manually drag the second bunch shots which will be at the other deep end manually with the help of ripple mode . Try this , its little difficult and tiresome but this is the work around I use .
4 . If I have understood it right , then all you have to do is save edl of the current time line , edit it in text edit and load the same edl and save as a different timeline .
I hope I have answered atleast few of them to your help.
Thanks & Regards
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